Watch The World Change
by BanoiSWEETZ
Summary: AU "The Jinchuuriki are dangerous people," She can hear Kiba saying her name in worry, but Hinata cannot respond. "They are S-rank nin, flee or kill on sight." The Elemental Nations will be forever changed. NaruHina HinaLee


_"Uzumaki Naruto,"_

_Naruto pauses mid-story, long ramen noodles halfway to his mouth. The Jounin standing just outside Ichiraku beckons him over with stoic patience. The sudden arrival is enough to catch him and Iruka off guard, showed by the chunnin rising from his seat with an uneasy expression._

_"Yeah?" The blonde responds as he shovels the rest of noodles into his mouth despite the interruption. "Whatcha want?"_

_"Hokage-sama would like to speak with you," He sends a look to Iruka. "Alone. Please come with me."_

_"Naruto…" The teacher looks uncomfortably between the two. "What did you do this time?"_

_"Nuthin!" Naruto scowls and slams down his bowl which sloshes with broth._

_"A huh." Iruka quickly pulls out his wallet and pays for their meal. "I'll come with you just in case you try to lie whatever you did off."_

_"Hokage-sama was very explicit when he stressed one Uzumaki Naruto was to come alone," the forgotten Jounin says with annoyance._

_Iruka looked like he's going to protest, but Naruto shakes his head. "It's fine sensei," He wipes the side of his mouth with his sleeve. "The old man is probably just gunna tell me how awesome I was in Wave!" He laughs. "Thank's for the ramen, I'll see you later!"_

_"Naruto…" He says again, a foreboding feeling in his stomach, and catches the gennin by his arm. "Be careful."_

_Naruto gives him a quizzical look, which is quickly replaced by a grand smile. "Of course."_

* * *

A girl walks down the road. She is no older than seventeen, her gait insecure but wary and her long hair tangles around face in fierce wind. The night is dark and thin fog rolls and wraps around her ankles like little spirits threatening to pull her under.

A girl walks down the road. The road is filled with death.

Behind her is man. He's tall, his entire stature confident and thick and wise but he couldn't be any older than the girl. His long limbs strain with each movement down the hazy road- like he was once power amongst the weak but now he is broken and discarded. The man is large, but has withered like a malnourished beanstalk.

The man collapses. His tower crumbles into ruins. He heaves deep lungful's of red liquid beneath the ghostly mist. He is dying.

The girl is silent as she pulls him up from the spirits but her tears echo with each drip down her pale cheeks. She knows he is dying. She will be there for him when he succumbs to his demons. But she helps him fight, until that day.

Despite her small stature, she pulls the large man across her back like a shroud. She tangles his limbs across her torso and lifts him from the fog. The spirits hiss at her legs angrily in retaliation.

She carries him for miles. The island they are on is small, some nondescript village just off the cost of Kaminari no Kuni and Kirigakure respectively. She often wonders why they decided to venture here- it is so close to _that_ island that her skin crawls every time she looks off to the west- but often does not care. Their wandering has yet to bring them any trouble so far.

For a moment she thinks of her home village and her family but that is quickly pushed from her mind. Two years since she left, leaving her family and past behind.

She is not going back.

* * *

The medic gives her a small smile as he enters from the adjacent room. He is chalky and moves with tired mechanical movements and looks as if he bathes in spirits.

"He'll need lots of bed rest," The medic says. His brow is furrowed deeply. "Weeks, months even. His muscles are so worn, ligaments torn and stretched beyond normal capabilities. I'm surprised you two even made it to town, ah, your name Kunoichi-sama?"

'Kunoichi-sama' looks vaguely amused, her pale pallor brightening with her beautiful flush. "Call me Hinata, sensei. I haven't worked as a Kunoichi for years."

"I'm sorry, it is just the way you move- the way you see shinobi use as they dip into the shadows- gave you off. Not to mention the way the headman saw you carry such a large man into town though the docks are miles off." The medic tries to smile politely, but it comes out more of a pained grimace. "You're husband is in critical condition, Hinata-sama."

"I know," She responds dutifully. Her reddened cheeks flare at the term used for the man- but she is used to such treatment. She knows she holds the man too close to her heart for it to be proper any other way.

"His spine is incredibly damaged. It is a miracle he is not paralyzed. There were trace amounts of chakra along the course of his spinal muscles and along the tissue of several mostly healed ligaments in his legs." The medic paused. Hinata poured him tea. "I'm going to assume that is was your chakra, Hinata-sama, because I've seen that his tenketsu are exceptionally damaged, mostly likely from the day he was born- making it unlikely that he can even use chakra. Foreign chakra usually expels itself from the body after healing- but this pure medicinal energy."

Hinata smiles. The medic's eyes rove over the curves of her round face- he imagines her as a child with a perfect cherubic face. "I was a medic in training before I left my career as a Kunoichi."

"Explains it," The medic nods, he gathers himself to leave. Hinata tosses a bag into his hands. It jingles mightily against his palms.

"For your discretion," Hinata stands and bows. "Thank you Sensei."

The medic leaves. Hinata enters the adjacent door.

The man is sunken beneath the thick quilts of the bed. He looks small, despite is tower frame. Hinata is reminded of a hospital- long nights filled with fear and pain and _help me I'm too scared of my own shadow_.

"Mhmm…Nata…" The man mumbles in his drug induced sleep. Hinata tries to smile at him, slipping her fingers into his hair like her mother used to do when she was sick. She can feel the mild temperature he has, and her fingers glow a light green as she caresses the contours of his skull.

She sits there for hours- staring at his dry, pale skin. She wonders how long this will last. They've dodged the pursuers of their home village flawlessly and they've yet to encounter either of the dangerous groups to ever walk the Elemental Nations, but she knows all good things come to an end at some point.

She is scared. She admits it freely. She is weak. She doesn't want to run into _him_. Before Hinata had left, she had spent the remainder of her time there in a hospital- locked in the white and blood and disinfectant like a willing prisoner. That's where she met the man.

"Lee…" She whispers, voice hoarse with emotion and demons. "I think this is the end."

Lee twitches. His short braid pops from its tie and scatters across the shoulder and pillow like a waterfall of black silk. Hinata takes one bandaged hand between her own, tucks her body under the mass of quilts, and lies along the course of one sharp hip. She knows they can't hide forever. One day they will come- Konoha, Akatsuki, the Jinchuuriki, _someone_- and they will be found. And they will die.

The road is filled with death.

* * *

_"-totally unfair."_

_Hinata raises her head, looking over at Sakura curiously. The murmur of the meeting room was loud but the volume of the pink haired kunoichi's voice had raised enough to be heard along the end of her sentence._

_Sakura is scowling, but her expression lacks her usual anger. Her pretty emerald eyes glimmer with faint distress and the corners of her mouth twitch with her worry. "It's been a couple weeks now," Her eyes turn downcast. "I've been barely able to sleep thinking about him, and I know it affects Sasuke-kun too. He's just been so quiet- more so than usual- and so withdrawn. Kakashi-sensei doesn't really seem bothered by it but…" She looked over at her teammate who sat silently by the window before turning back to Ino. "We're all so worried about him. I went to his apartment, to Ichiraku, even through all the training grounds he's usually at. Naruto is just…Gone."_

_Hinata gasps, but is hardly surprised. She has not once seen her blonde haired crush in the month and a half since his team returned from their rumored C-Rank mission, but hearing that he was actually missing still shocks her._

_"That is quite right, Haruno-kun." An older woman from the front of the room says loudly and the meeting room goes quiet. Her face is set in a calm, but stern expression. "That is actually why we called you all here today."_

_Sakura blushes at be being called out, but pales at the woman's words. A slight murmur goes up- Hinata looks around the room and sees several people glancing at the pinkette in confusion._

_"I am councilman Homura," A man says from next to the woman. "This is councilwoman Koharu. And as our councilwoman has said, we have brought you here today to discuss the disappearance of one of your peers."_

_"But first," Koharu continues. "There is an important matter that must be brought to your attention." She pauses to clear her throat. "As you may have noticed, this group consists of a age group younger than twenty."_

_"This is because thirteen years ago," Homura casts his steely gaze across the crowd. "A law was passed that prohibited any further generation from knowing of this subject and disallowed anyone of speaking of said subject or such law. But, events have occurred in which we believe this law to no longer to be of effect and another has passed that requires us to inform you of this topic, as to protect you as our shinobi."_

_"Thirteen years ago," The councilwoman repeats. "Our favored Hokage, the Yondaime, fought valiantly against the Kyuubi, a nine tailed beast known as Kurama." She pauses as the crowds murmurs die down at her tone, and she shares a look with Homura silently. "But it was not enough. Due to outstanding circumstances, the Yondaime was forced to deal with the beast the only way known- to seal it away."_

_Hinata feels something in her go cold. She may not be the sharpest Genin of her fellows, but she could see the pieces the councilwoman was laying out. A few feet away she watches as Shikamaru rises from his lazy slouch, his eyes narrowing into darkened slits and feels her teammate Shino do the same._

_"On the day of October tenth, thirteen years ago, the Yondaime sealed Kurama away into a newborn babe, as only a baby with still developing chakra coils could hold such a monstrous essence."_

_Hinata watches as Sakura lets out a choked breath that leaves her gasping for air and huddled by the window Sasuke rises to his feet. "What are you saying?" He snarls angrily, hands clenching into fists. "Are you saying the dobe is some kind of monster?"_

_Koharu looks away, but Homura stands a bit straighter. "We are saying that, on that very day, one Uzumaki Naruto became a Jinchuuriki- a human sacrifice. And as the Jinchuuriki of Konoha, he has obligations to us, one of which dictates that should we ever call upon him he will gladly give his skills for the sake of the village."_

_The room goes deathly quiet. The only thing Hinata can hear is the pounding if her heart and blood in her ears- though she hears the pink haired member of Team Seven let out a hushed cry of alarm._

_"Why are you telling us this now?" Shikamaru asks bluntly, staring at his blonde teammate who cradles the pale, trembling Sakura to her chest. "What does this have to do with us?"_

_"A few weeks ago, the Shogun of the Elemental Nations decided that with recent and past grievances with the countries and their Jinchuuriki, that each Kage will surrender their Jinchuuriki unto an undisclosed location where they will live until direly needed." The councilman answers. "Under normal circumstances we would not inform you of these matters, but this situation is no longer normal. We have-"_

_"The nations have lost contact with the informants," Koharu interrupts quickly. "We have reason to believe the Jinchuuriki are rebelling, as all activity concerning them has gone completely off grid. And since the nine tails container is that of your age group, possibly even your friend, we think that you are in the most danger."_

_The room delves into a near black and white haze. Hinata watches Sakura bury her face into Ino's shoulder and she feels her body give a light sway._

_"The Jinchuuriki are dangerous people," The councilwoman continues. "Which is why we have informed your sensei's to up your training and restrict missions to the inside of the village for your protection."_

_She can hear Kiba saying her name in worry, but Hinata cannot respond. She feels so cold, her legs are so tired; her head is so thick, her eyes-_

_"We have also marked the Jinchuuriki as S-Rank nin, making them either flee or kill on sight." Homura says. "But again, this is for your protection."_

_**-And she blacks out.**_


End file.
